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I spent some quality time two weekends ago doing some serious cleaning and snapped pictures of all eight keel bolts and a crack in one of the spans across the floor. The crack looks like it's been repaired; there's a wood block underneath it with fibreglass matt epoxied over it and onto the surface below... and even slightly over the washers and nuts on the two keel bolts in the vicinity. The cracked part is SLIGHLY higher than the rest of the floor, so the sole board doesn't quite lay perfectly flat there; it rocks slightly. Nothing I can't live with, as long as it's structurally sound.

Sooo... now that you've seen the bolts and the crack... can I just go sailing for a year and learn, or do I have to start with some serious repair work?

Thanks for any input...

Barry

10-23-2012 09:10 PM

tomperanteau

Re: New member/sailboat owner..

No pics? It never happened. Sorry, those be the rules.

Post some pics!

10-23-2012 08:47 PM

Faster

Re: New member/sailboat owner..

I may be mistaken, but IIRC the Pearson keelbolts are truly bolts passing through a keel-top flange.. if so, esp now that she's already on the hard it may not be a major job to dig out the fairing and replace those two unsightly bolts. It would get rid of any nagging worry on your first season, and may not involve dropping the keel.

btw - welcome to the forum.. the 'learn to sail for free' at a race night is a path I've long recommended to new wanna-be sailors.. works every time!

10-23-2012 07:55 PM

bblument

Re: New member/sailboat owner..

Thanks for the reply/welcome, Caleb, and the link to the Pearson 26 specs at the other site. I had seen that already during our hunt for what we thought might be a good starter boat, but I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

I've gone back and forth trying to decide whether or not to tackle the keel boats prior to her first launch next season. Right now, the tally seems to be that most folks feel it would be safe to launch as is; there's very little "Pearson smile" visible (a gap in the seam between then hull and the keel), and six of the eight keel bolts, while rusty, are very solid. Even the two w/ questionable nuts (do NOT go there!!!!) seem to be pretty solid. Granted, I'd love to see NO rust or corrosion, but I don't think the keel's just going to fall off. If anyone reading this feels strongly that I'm incorrect, PLEASE say so. I have pictures of all eight keel bolts, along with a repair fiberglass repair that was done at one of the span that support the sole. Should I post them, either here or over in the maintenance section?

As far as our sailing locale, right now the soon-to-be-named boat is up in Chaumont, NY, on Lake Ontario, about an hour and forty minutes from our house. The plan is to learn to sail enough up there early next spring to sail/motor it down from there, via Oswego and the canal system, to Oneida Lake, where we'll store it on the southeast shore about 30 minutes from our house so we can get out there whenever we darn well feel like it!

Any folks in the area who are willing to coach a newbie, PLEASE drop me a line... musechaserpilot at yahoo dot com. If anyone would be willing to make the two-day trek from Chaumont to Oneida with me in May, I'll gladly provide beverages of your choice, decent provender, and an honorarium if requested. I'm a quick learner and am hoping that I'll be able to make the trip myself by that time, but I'm also not egotistical enough to know that for sure. Better safe than sorry.... I'm a private pilot, and I know enough to know that what you don't know can kill you. Not as fast in a sailboat, of course, but that doesn't mean I want to make bad decisions.

Thanks again for the reply. I am TRULY looking forward to this next journey of learning..

Best wishes to all,

Barry

10-23-2012 06:17 PM

CalebD

Re: New member/sailboat owner..

Barry,

Welcome to Sailnut. Nice introductory post.

Those old Sunfish hulls can take on water and get pretty soggy and become not so fun to sail.

The Pearson 26' is a good starter keel boat. Here are the specs for the basic P 26: PEARSON 26 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com
Pearson also made a 'Weekender' model that is also listed on that website. It has a slightly different cabin/deck layout. It is nice to know exactly which model you have.
It would be good if you could replace those keel bolts if they are as corroded as you described. I'd hate for the keel to fall off on you as the boat may not stay upright without the keel.
Also, where will you be doing most of your sailing?

10-23-2012 04:43 PM

bblument

New member/sailboat owner..

As the title says, we're new sailboat owners and SailNet members (after a few weeks of lurking)... but not yet sailors.

Brief history...lots of time spent in small 12' - 14' fishing boats w/ a 9.9 hp Merc botherin' Walleyes and Northern Pike. Decades. Always wanted to sail. Bought a Sunfish w/ waterlogged hull 'cause I didn't know any better. Still had fun sailing it maybe 10 times. Sold it due to hull becoming too bad to use any more. Thus endeth our experience.. <grin>.

Fast forward...

We did some dreaming for a couple years and bothered a very nice fellow at a local used boatyard on more than several occasions. Hee finally told us to just go sailing rather than try and figure out what to buy without any experience, and he hooked us up with a very friendly yacht club in our area. They hold open races on Thursday nights. We showed up, asked if anyone would be willing to take us on as crew, and that was that ... we were hooked. We went out on a 30' S2 with a very experienced captain (and VERY helpful) and had a great time. DONE.

Fast forward two months. After a lot of searching, we found a 1972 26' Pearson in decent but not perfect shape and bought it for what I think is a fair price from a very nice person. We didn't steal it, but we didn't get taken for a ride either. Figuratively, not literally. It's been on the hard for four years, but I'm pretty sure it's sailable the way it sits. The keel bolts are EXTREMELY rusty, to the point where two of the nuts aren't even really there any more, there's the usual semi-cob-jobbed electrical work, but very little spider cracking for the vintage (MUCH less than the other two Pearson 26's we looked at). It needs some fairing work at the hull/keel joint, all new running rigging, and obviously bottom painting, but by next season I think we'll have a great starter boat.

I spent two days cleaning her up last weekend, and slept on her for the first time. I'm amazed, at least with just me there, how open, bright, and airy it felt. As a long-time backwoods backpacker, I'm accustomed to roughing it and feeling a little claustrophobic while sleeping... by comparison, this was like staying in the Ritz.

Anyway... nice to be here. Wish my wife and I luck as we prep her (the boat, not my wife) for the official first launch next late April.